Terrain: Civ or SMAC

Inverse Icarus · April 17, 2003, 22:04

Terrain: Civ or SMAC?

Flat or Raised?

which do you prefer?

Inverse Icarus · April 17, 2003, 22:26

also, explaining your reasoning would be great too

Trifna · April 20, 2003, 12:12

An elevated model done well could look ALOT more to the Earth as it really is seen from space. Nice topography would be a marvel.

Henrik · April 20, 2003, 13:23

Quote:

Terrain: Civ or SMAC?

How about mixing the two?

Inverse Icarus · April 21, 2003, 10:20

Quote:

Originally posted by Henrik

How about mixing the two?

howso? making elevated terrain with "mountain" terrain types etc?

Trifna · April 24, 2003, 00:43

I guess there could be a mix by using elevated terrains and graphically put the rest (only to look nicer). SMAC, graphically, was still a beginning.

Urban Ranger · April 24, 2003, 04:54

I thought SMAC looked good for it's supposedly alien environment

ColdWizard · April 24, 2003, 12:37

I like the elevated terrain in smac though it'd be nice to be able rotate the view to see the other side of mountains and such.

Panag · May 5, 2003, 21:09

hi ,

flat , ....

aldo we should hopefully see in the next couple of years a mix of both , ....

have a nice day

Spiffor · May 7, 2003, 19:21

Elevated. But maybe a mix of both.

I think the next game should take several things into account when defining a tile : elevation and climate. This way, you could have Siberian hills that don't produce any food, unlike Italian hills. It will give much variety to the tiles in the next game if there are 2 defining factors rather than one. And it'll look better

Panag · May 9, 2003, 03:33

hi ,

we should get hills in the dessert also

not to mention that there should be an option for an instance to let the jungle grow back next to a city tile if it aint used for a nulber of turns , .....

have a nice day

H Tower · May 11, 2003, 01:09

the thing I didn't like about smac was even though you would have mountains it would like like just a big rolling hill. A mix would be best, or at least more change in the appearance of the terrain.

Spiffor · May 11, 2003, 08:31

Yep Htower, that's right. I suppose the higher computer performance will help to have such steep mountains etc if the next Civ is in 3d

Alex · May 13, 2003, 14:32

Elevated terrain, as in SMAC, but with steeper mountains, as HTower said. When I saw that Civ3 terrain was flat (and there was no enviromental effects -- like animated water or sandstorms in deserts

) I was a bit disappointed.

Jac de Molay · May 23, 2003, 16:15

I like the elevated terrain as well, but the SMAC color scheme sucks. Pinkish fungus? Bleh. Dull green forests?

Keep the elevated terrain, just spice it up a little.

War4ever · May 24, 2003, 13:01

Quote:

Originally posted by Jac de Molay
I like the elevated terrain as well, but the SMAC color scheme sucks. Pinkish fungus? Bleh. Dull green forests?

Keep the elevated terrain, just spice it up a little.

sums it up perfectly...just dont' use TOT colors either

TimeTraveler · June 18, 2003, 14:31

I think using an elevated terrain would be a great idea. However, there should be new re-workings on just how far different the elevation of two close squares can get. Basically, if you terraform a one-square island in the middle of the ocean into the tallest mountain possible, it probably shouldn't look like a giant square or pyramid on the map.

DarkCloud · July 8, 2003, 11:45

I would vote for elevated because then it adds modifiers for whoever holds the higher ground.

Perhaps the programmers could add something to say that 100 feet equals a .05 advantage... or .1... whatever.

That way, the advantages could add up and you could have something like the Charge Of the Light Brigade fail against a better-entrenched foe!

Perhaps the higher unit could have defensive bonuses for height as well

IT would add a new level of strategy!

hexagonian · July 23, 2003, 13:12

I will start off with the statement that I really liked the overall 'look' of the SMAC terrain.

But 'looks' do not necessarily translate into good gameplay. The basis for my statement is 'at a glance...'

- 3-D SMAC terrain was hard to distinguish. You had to click on a tile to see exactly what type it was. Flat tile can be distinguished at a glance.

- 3-D SMAC terrain also gave you tiles that were either diamond-shaped (good) or sliver-shaped (very bad). The end result was a visually crowded map on the slope of a mountain. Again destroying the 'at a glance' concept.

I vote for flat

Harovan · July 24, 2003, 16:13

Quote:

Originally posted by panag
we should get hills in the dessert also

Not everyone likes a hill in his dessert.

Oh, and my vote is flat, unless the altitude has a function as it has in SMAC. But even then, the elevation shouldn't distort the tile that much. Make it less steep, as was mentioned.

Panag · July 24, 2003, 16:20

Quote:

Originally posted by Sir Ralph

Not everyone likes a hill in his dessert.

Oh, and my vote is flat, unless the altitude has a function as it has in SMAC. But even then, the elevation shouldn't distort the tile that much. Make it less steep, as was mentioned.

hi ,

thats why it should go into the editor , this way both the people who like it and who dont like it are happy , ......

but since hills are present in almost every dessert , it seems more then normal to put sand hills or dunes into the game , .....

have a nice day

CivPatriot · July 24, 2003, 19:06

My opinion would be a the elevted terrian, allowing for a greater variation in terrain in the world(plateaus, varying kind of mountains(like the difference b/w the Applalachian mountains and the Rockies). To me it would allow for a more complete experience. I think that the main things going against SMAC's terrian was the coloration of the tiles, very odd looking somtimes. But a combination of the elevated terrain with the detiailed flat system would not only look good but provide a more interesting game play.

Harovan · July 25, 2003, 10:25

Quote:

Originally posted by panag
but since hills are present in almost every dessert , it seems more then normal to put sand hills or dunes into the game , .....

Actually, I have nothing against sand dunes and hills in the desert.

But keep them out of my dessert!